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Philippines: Car sales firm up in October, set to surpass 2020 performance
MANILA, Philippines — Car manufacturers reported growth in vehicles sales in October, fueling the industry’s optimism of surpassing last year’s lackluster performance.
What’s new
Automakers sold a total of 22,581 units in October, inching up 5.1% month-on-month, according to a joint report from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released Thursday.
However, vehicle sales skidded 9.8% year-on-year.
In ten months, CAMPI and TMA sold 214,168 vehicles, up 23.8% on-year.
Why this matters
Vehicle sales are one of the indicators used by economic officials like central bankers to check the economy’s health. This is because consumer spending typically represents 70% of annual economic output in the Philippines, and big-ticket purchases of households materially add to gross domestic product when produced more.
The industry is targeting a 30% on-year sales growth in 2021.
What VIPs say
CAMPI President Atty. Rommel Gutierrez expects auto sales to outpace 2020’s overall sales performance. The industry sold 223,793 units in 2020, down 39.5% year-on-year and was the lowest since 2013 after the pandemic hurt demand.
“Based on the October 2021 sales performance, the auto industry remains strong and will certainly surpass last year’s overall performance,” Gutierrez said in a statement.
“Likewise, we continue to discuss relevant issues with the government aimed at ensuring full recovery of the industry as the country’s economic growth outlook is upgraded,” he added.
What an analyst says
Sought for comment, Jun Neri, lead economist at Bank of the Philippine Islands, forecasts a double-digit growth of vehicle sales by April next year.
“Vehicle sales would have performed better if supply were more readily available. Unfortunately the global supply chain is facing a lot of challenges and the vehicle sector has been dragged by it. We believe we can return to double digit growth again by 2Q2022 as supply potentially improves,” Neri said in a Viber message.
Other figures
- Of the total sales in October, commercial vehicles accounted for 66.23% of units sold during the month. Sales under this segment inched up 0.3% month-on-month to 14,955 units.
- Passenger cars cornered a smaller 33.77% market share. Automakers sold 7,626 units of this type in October, growing 15.9% from the preceding month.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2021/11/11/2140554/car-sales-firm-october-set-surpass-2020-performance